Tasoula Hadjitofi – from refugee to icon hunter

Tasoula Hadjitofi will discuss her experiences of war and injustice; her ongoing campaign to preserve cultural heritage worldwide and her tireless work to combat art trafficking.

In 1974 Tasoula Hadjitofi and her family were forced to flee their home in Famagusta, Cyprus during the Turkish invasion.

As a refugee living in the Netherlands, Tasoula devoted her life to infiltrating and exposing the shady underworld of art traffickers.

It all began when a corrupt art dealer contacted her about an icon of Saint Andreas, and since that moment more than twenty years ago, Tasoula has fought for the repatriation of looted antiquities to their rightful owners in war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, as well as her homeland of Cyprus.

Tasoula will tell her remarkable story of her life as an ‘icon hunter’, and give an account of how hundreds of religious sites were destroyed and looted during and after the Turkish invasion and occupation in Cyprus; and how many of those stolen artefacts came to be sold on the international black market.

She will discuss her memoir, The Icon Hunter, a powerful chronicle of art trafficking and the impact it has on those whose lives are torn apart in conflict zones.

She describes her book as ‘my gift to my country, Cyprus, my gift to 65 million refugees worldwide’.

Tasoula is the founder of Walk of Truth, a non-governmental organisation whose mission is to raise awareness of the importance of preserving cultural heritage in conflict areas.

As a ‘Culture Crime Watcher’, Tasoula engages the public in protecting cultural heritage as a currency of peace. She hopes that Walk of Truth and her book will empower and connect every refugee around the world who wishes to use the lessons learned from Cyprus for their own country.

SUPPORTING SPEAKERS

• Professor Mark Altaweel is a Reader in Near East Archaeology at University College London.

He has been involved in a variety of research projects in the Middle East and has experience in investigating looted antiquities from the region.

His work includes the social history of the ancient Near East and in presenting its importance in shaping world history and culture.

He has been extensively interviewed about recent events in Syria and Iraq.

• Dr Ara Sarafian is a historian specialising in late Ottoman and modern Armenian history.

Lobby for Cyprus is a non-party-political human rights organisation that campaigns for a Cyprus free from Turkish occupation and a unitary Cypriot state without segregation along ethnic and religious lines.